Wessel Mouris ends Danish dominance in U23 race
Dutch rider Wessel Mouris (Metec-Solarwatt Cyclingteam) has won the U23 race as part of the cycling classic. The 21-year-old won the sprint of a seven-man leading group and thus celebrated his first victory of the season. The two Danes Peter Öxenberg Hansen (Team ColoQuick) and Alexander Arnt Hansen (Airtox - CarlRas) finished second and third. The previous three editions had been won by Danish young riders. The best German was Anton Lennemann (Bike Aid Südliche Weinstrasse Development) in 19th place.
The field stayed together for a long time and in summery temperatures the young riders posted an average time of 39. Before the summit of the Feldberg was reached for the first time, the field split up. As soon as they reached the bottom, it was uphill again - this time from the harder side. Even on the descent, the lead group had shrunk considerably. By the time the summit was passed for the second time, there were only 55 riders left. With 40 kilometres to go, another seven riders broke away and rode together towards the finish, building up a lead of up to one and a half minutes. Before the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, there were still around 30 seconds left.
Mouris, who was at the start of Eschborn-Frankfurt for the first time, said after his victory: ‘The start was relatively easy from my point of view. I also felt good on the climbs and never went over the limit. That allowed me to save some energy. Then we went into the final with seven riders. One of the riders in front of me tried to attack again, but we caught him again shortly before the finish. That slowed the group down a bit and I went for the sprint, pulled it off and won. I'm very happy with that.’